Thursday, August 28, 2014

It Pays to Listen

“Don’t
skip out now, ya hear?” Bertha, the sole waitress at the small diner, said as
she handed a man who was passing through his check. “Hank is in an ugly mood.”

Two cowboys who were regulars at the
diner laughed. “When is he not ugly?” the taller one asked then they laughed some
more.

“You boys behave or I’ll have Hank
teach you a lesson,” Bertha replied then headed into the kitchen to make a
batch of iced tea. A few minutes later she heard a scuffle in the dining area
and stormed back out. “What’s going on here?”

“This here stranger thought he
wouldn’t pay,” said the taller cowboy who was holding the man against the wall.
“Ain’t that right Jim?”

“That’s right.”

“Let me go! I left the money on the
table!” the stranger said as he struggled to get away.

“I don’t see no money,” Jim replied.

“You took it!”

“Now see, we don’t like it when
people make accusations like that around these parts,” Jim said.

“Ben, you better bring him out back
to Hank.”

“Wait … what? I just want to pay my
bill and leave.”

“You should’ve had thought of that
before,” Ben replied then started to drag the man out of the diner with Jim and
Bertha following close behind.

They
stopped next to a large animal pen. “You can’t do this to me! I have rights!”

“Boy, you’re in Texas. We have our
own rules,” Jim said. “Hank! Come here boy,” Jim called out. A small grey
creature ran out of the dog house, headed straight for the stranger and tried
to bite him through the fencing.

“What is that … that thing?” the
stranger asked, horrified.

“That’s my pet Chupacabra,” Bertha
answered.

Bertha carefully unlocked the
entrance and Ben shoved the man inside. Hank pounced on him and quickly started
tearing the man apart, his screams piercing the mid-afternoon quiet.

As they made their way inside,
Bertha said, “People jus’ don’t listen.”

When they got back inside, she got
the cowboys slices of pie. “Thanks for your help boys.”

“Anytime, Bertha,” they replied and
ate down their pie.

Outside there was an eerie silence. Bertha
looked out the window in the kitchen. Hank was taking a nap, curled up next to
a pile of bones and a half eaten carcass. She went back to making lemonade,
happy knowing her pet would be well fed until the next stranger passed through.